SUPADUPA BOUTIQUE E-COMMERCE

Just released SupaDupa’s brand new Shop Design...

Mon, 13 May 2013 21:43:22 +0100

Just released SupaDupa’s brand new Shop Design features.
Get the custom look you want!

New SupaDupa Facebook APP is here!

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 15:12:00 +0100

Your Facebook timeline has never looked so good!

SupaDupa now offers effortless social product marketing and it’s built right into your store.

With just a few clicks, the SupaDupa timeline publisher allows you to share your products from your shop, to your timeline, in style. Built in product templates allow you create and publish jaw dropping product shares directly from your back office which then get seen on your Facebook timeline.

This app allows you to extend your social marketing reach to anyone browsing your page in visually compelling and relevant ways.

Get started now by simply turning on your Facebook timeline sharing when you update your next product.

Want to learn more?

Check out How to share a product to your Facebook Timeline

Shop Search

Thu, 21 Feb 2013 14:40:00 +0000

New feature announcement!
Predictive Shop Search.

We are pleased to announce a brand new shop feature to the SupaDupa über simple eCommerce platform.

Predictive Shop Search allows real time search in your back office and now it’s ALSO available to customers in your store.

This new feature means zero guesswork for customers and gives them new ways to discover the products you sell.

Once enabled, whenever a customer types a keyword or phrase in your boutique’s search box Predictive Shop Search will automatically kick in and start pulling in results based on your product data.

Customers don’t need to type the entire keyword while searching. They will be presented with a list of product suggestions matching their keyword or phrase as they type. These auto suggestions appear with corresponding thumbnail images showing a list of products that best match their search terms.

Customers love crazy lazy search.
It’s reassuringly simple, predictably smart.

According to the MarketingSherpa Ecommerce Benchmark Report, “customers who use the search box on ecommerce sites convert at nearly three times the rate of general browsers.”

Enabling your shop search is automatic.

Once you have switched your ‘Customers can search?’ toggle to YES you don’t need to do anything. You can find this toggle in the Products tab of your SupaDupa back office.

Predictive Shop Search will start indexing your products as soon as it is enabled. The index will continue to check every 3 minutes for any changes you might be making to your product catalogue or within each of your products’ data.

What can customers search on?

Customers can search on all products that are set to be visible in your store.

The product information read by the search includes:

Product name
Description
SEO keywords
* Shop Search Words
Product Code
Product variation options
Collection names

*We have also added a special new field to the product information called:

‘Shop Search Words’

The ‘Shop Search Words’ field - what’s it for?
The Shop Search Words field allows you to add extra keywords and phrases which are not already covered in your ‘Product name’, ‘Description’, ‘SEO keywords’, ‘Product code’, ‘Product variation options’ or ‘Collection name’ fields.

The idea behind these additional words is to add an extra layer of product discoverability to your store.

The keywords or phrases that you enter into this field allows your customers to discover your products using additional words that would not otherwise be covered in the visible parts of your product data.

Typical use cases for ‘Shop Search Words’ might include:

Adding generic keywords that might not otherwise be a desirable addition to your Product names or Descriptions.
i.e. If you’re selling jewellery you might not want to include all of the materials used in the piece as part of its’ name or description. But customers might still search for ‘Alabaster’ or ‘Silver’.
Classifying products in more literal or explicit ways.
i.e. An illustration or Art Piece can contain; Birds, Trees and Clouds, or can be classified as Happy, Sad or Rude.
Using colour or material as a searchable attribute
i.e. Products can have additional Shop Search Words added to them which might describe their colour, material or style which can help your customers find items matching those attributes. Searching on ‘red’ for instance can show customers all your products which share the attribute red.
Using your own synonyms to catch customer interest
Not every type of product can be described in the same way to different people.
Some say ‘Snapback’, others say ‘Cap’, and some others still might say ‘Hat’.
Shop search words can be used to include all possible alternatives making the results relevant to any type of customer.

Predictive Search is also enabled in your back office. It’s now easier to search for products, when organising your backoffice which means managing your shop now takes less time.

How to create a wholesale store?

Thu, 30 Aug 2012 16:59:36 +0100

We often get asked about whether or not SupaDupa can be used to set up a wholesale business.

The answer more often than not is yes, you can!

In essence, selling wholesale isn’t all that different to retail with two key differences:

Minimum quantity
Minimum order value
Product exclusivity

It is common for wholesalers to want to hide their shop from the general buying public so not to reveal their wholesale prices. This is why we tend to find that most wholesalers feel the need to request a long list of credentials and form filling from their prospective buyers before they are allowed into their shop which is, to most, off putting enough to lose the sale.

If your product is not subject to exclusivity rights i.e. you are not concerned over limiting your sales by vetting your buyers first, you may consider the following practice to be a great solution to your wholesale woes:

How to create a wholesale shop?

The most common way to create a wholesale shop is actually not “hide” it from the general public but actually to set a minimum order value or qty required for purchase.

We have seen a number of merchants successfully impose both these restrictions by:

Setting the unit qty for their products in multiples e.g. 3 or 12 (this is up to you). This effectively means your customers can only buy in multiples of the same product.
Set the minimum shipping order value at say $100 (again, the exact minimum order value is up to you).

Both methods are highly effective in the sense that they filter out the general public from wholesale buying unless they are willing to buy in larger (wholesale) quantities and hence enjoy the corresponding bulk discounts.

We would encourage you not to try to “over complicate” what is essentially a relatively simple requirement that can easily be achieved using either or both methods above.

The advantage to following this simple principle is that:

Your product benefits from the exposure which it would otherwise not achieve were it to lie behind a password protected webstore.
Your prospective buyers do not need to inconvenience themselves by having to email you to request access details.
Your buyers can place an order with you when they are willing and ready (which is often a fleeting impulse that can be lost were they to have to wait a few hours to receive a response back from you)

Is it possible to install a link from your retail site to your wholesale site?

Yes.

You have three options:

You can use the ‘Website’ link provided to link to your wholesale store.
You can create a page which gives more information about your wholesale services and link to it from there.
You can use one of your 5 banners to link to your wholesale store.

Photo

Wed, 18 Jul 2012 15:25:00 +0100

Up close with Amanda Li HopeLondon based, Fairtrade &...

Mon, 14 May 2012 12:16:00 +0100

Up close with Amanda Li Hope
London based, Fairtrade & Fairmined Gold Jewelry Designer.

As part of our “Because, Love Comes First” series, SupaDupa.me was invited to glimpse behind the scenes with Amanda Li Hope - an aspiring jewelry designer maker who juggles two jobs as an architect and jewelry designer working seven days a week in pursuit of her passion.

Amanda invited us to her Clerkenwell studio to try to get a better understanding of her motivations as a jewelry designer and what it takes to turn a passion into a sustainable business which she started from scratch.

For more information about Amanda Li Hope please click here to visit her jewelry boutique.

Matthias Heiderich

Wed, 09 May 2012 12:25:42 +0100

Matthias Heiderich

New feature: Orders search!If you’ve got a ton of orders...

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 11:54:49 +0100

New feature: Orders search!
If you’ve got a ton of orders and need to look through them, how do you do it?
Well, what’s the big deal?
You can now search through your orders using any of the following parameters:

• First name
• Last name
• Country
• Delivery address
• Billing address
• Product title
• Product SKU

New feature: Orders .CSV file export!

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 11:50:52 +0100

To make those boring task slightly less boring, you can now export your orders in .CSV format directly from your orders list. Useful when doing your accounts or if you have special stock keeping requirements.

Michael Cina

Wed, 11 Apr 2012 17:50:05 +0100

Michael Cina

“This is the first time in my life when I’ve just felt...

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 15:39:06 +0100

“This is the first time in my life when I’ve just felt absolutely on the right path.”

Local farmer Megan Paska has witnessed beekeeping as it morphed from an illegal (and possibly crazy) habit to a sustainable, community-supported skill. Mirroring beekeeping’s own ascendance, she found more than just a living.

New Feature! Personalized products

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 12:14:15 +0100

Until now, it has been a fairly cumbersome process to offer product personalization to customers wishing to customize the items you sell. The suggested workaround to deal with the inability to take special instructions from customers has always been to ask the customer to write in with an email containing their request after they have placed the order specifying exactly what they wish to personalize. We have always regarded this as a poor alternative to anyone who is serious about running a business based on personalized goods.

As of today you can offer full personalisation services with ease:

Choose to personalise any product in your store
You decide what questions to ask
You can still apply product variations of size and colour etc.

Your product appears in the same way as any other product in your store

Your customer is prompted to answer your questions at the checkout
Customisation options can be applicable to one or multiples of the same product e.g. when a customer buys 20 units of the same T-Shirt they can customise all of them with the same instructions or choose to apply different options to each T-Shirt in turn.

The customisation options are saved together with the order
Customization Instructions displayed together with the line item they pertain to at fulfilment

Here are just a few personalization examples we love:

Personalized T-Shirts

Personalized leather tags

CestSuperbe make these brilliantly conceived leather tags for honeymooners!

Mesa Dreams make custom leather products ranging from dog collars to luggage tags.

Personalized stationery
Pinhole Press offers a wide range of beautifully designed personalized stationery and photo based products.

Personalized wine bottle labels

Personalized artwork
Lisa Swerling recycles disused drawers into eye popping personalized works of art where the piece itself incorporates a whole host of customisation options ranging from the colour of the characters eyes to names imprinted within the piece.

KAL BARTESKI is a professional artist who specializes in painting, writing and design. She also offers hand written works of art based on her enchanting broad brush calligraphy which can be customised to order.

Sarah & Bendrix creates delicately framed paper artworks which can be personalised to reflect the occasion they are for.

Personalized jewlery

We hope this opens up some creative product opportunities for those of you who might have been toying with the idea.

Please write in with your suggestions and examples of how you are using this feature for your business.

There are a bunch of new features heading this way imminently so please like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to be the first to know.

Alvaro Tapia Hidalgo

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 15:01:21 +0100

Alvaro Tapia Hidalgo

Matthias Heiderich

Wed, 28 Mar 2012 13:37:15 +0100

Matthias Heiderich

What it means to be an influencer

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 12:17:18 +0100

What it means to be an influencer

Remarkably Made Monday Yesterday at Pick Me UP , the...

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 14:27:47 +0100

Remarkably Made Monday

Yesterday at Pick Me UP , the Contemporary Graphic Art Fair, I came across this amazing duo: Jodie and David who saw eye to eye on robots, kittens and evil monkeys since meeting at University in Leeds.

They began to work under the name of Peskimo in 2004, and together they have crafted a vast array of characters and creations that have won admirers far and wide. I am one of them!

Peskimo’s world is teeming with monsters and bunnies, pattern and texture, combining quirky details and streamlined design with a generous pinch of nostalgia to create art that has appeared on tshirts, magazines, newspapers, billboards and nightclub walls.

I love their Food Groups illustrations!

New! - Add new pages to your store

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 10:53:00 +0100

We have now added the ability for you to create and add your own pages.
This feature can be found under Shop Settings / Info Pages

Have fun…

Rocco Malatesta, Berlin based Italian designer

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 10:46:29 +0000

What’s your name, what do you do, and where do you come from? 

My name is Rocco Malatesta, I am an Italian freelance graphic designer and illustrator currently living in Berlin.

  What company do you work for?

 I currently work with several design agencies here in Berlin: Moccu Kreativagentur and Metadesign, to name but a few.  Soon I will begin a collaboration with Studio-Good and Iconic and I have several clients scattered around here and there.

What do you focus on / specialise in as a creative?

 I have been working in the field of Communication for the past 15 years and I have always been a graphic designer. If you ask me what is the thing that interests me most, I can say I’m very interested in creating identities. Whether it’s the cover of a book or a video game or a company logo.

What makes you unique? 

I focus a lot on the study and research of a project before I begin. If I design a logo, for example, I keep drawing and redrawing until exhaustion. I am almost obsessive in this. At the end of the work I have a hundred versions of the same subject. Research is a fundamental part of my whole production process.

How did you get started with that / with your business?
What was your key motivation?

 I remember perfectly the day I decided to become a graphic designer. I was about 11 years old and at school they distributed to everyone an orientation booklet for future school choice. And there it was my school! For me it was very clear, as if it were not written in ink, but carved in stone: Graphic Design School. My favorite subjects were all there, drawing, life drawing, graphic design, history of art and photography! But there is one thing .. I didn’t say the exact name was: Female Professional Institute of Graphic Design and Advertising. Female, yep. What an injustice (I thought), but then I called and asked if I could have access anyway and luckily they said yes! I don’t deny that at school was strong enough embarrassment when, in public, everyone had to tell the class their future choice. I remember my Italian proffessor teasing me in front of the whole class: “Rocco it is a girls’ school” with a smile …

Did you study the art of what you are doing or was it something that you have picked up naturally or through other circumstances?

As I said right away I started to study graphic design very young and I keep learning everyday.

Has your city, geographical backdrop influenced what you do or how you do it?

 I grew up in one of the most seedy and degraded place in the periphery of Milan during the ’80s, called Cesano Boscone in Italy. Honestly It wasn’t so bad for me. I had a good time and still have my family there. Things have changed and now no longer has a bad reputation. Criminals, jailbirds, nasty people, were all in my neighborhood. I’m now living in Berlin, which for me is very strong inspiration for my work. I consider myself lucky to be able to live and work in a context so interesting and lively. Cues are on every corner here. The context from where I come and where I am, certainly influence what I do, I’m sure.

What made you realise you can or want to sell your work? 

Friends and people who are close to me basically. Those, who, when they saw my work showed great interest.

How did you get your first sale?

Was sort of a moment was that? It happened that I designed a poster for a personal project and I published it on my website. Suddenly and unexpectedly for me, this poster appeared in loads of blogs in the world and this thing gave me great visibility. I never thought it would attract so many people.

How long has it taken you to get to where you are today? 

Well, hard to say. It was a long process made of constant commitment and determination, as far as I’m concerned. The motivation, then, has played an important factor in my professional career. It is certainly not a passing passion.

Were there ever moments of doubt where you thought you should give up and try something else? 

Fortunately not. Of course I found myself without a job on several occasions, but the important thing is knowing how to rise above it and lift yourself up always.

Is there anything that has become symbolic of your success or coming of age as a creative?

 There’s one thing above all: the enthusiasm that I put into doing things. I have understood for some time that with enthusiasm you can just do anything.

What’s sort of relationship do you have with money? 
What value do you place on having/ earning it?

I like to spend it on food and I’m not obsessed with money.

Do you have an office, studio, garage you work from? 

I work from home, I have a small studio with my tools, colors, books and pens. I alternate my days between drawing and cooking. Working from home I can afford to do what I really love: cooking!

What do you spend most of your time doing?

 My biggest passion is cycling, so as soon as I have free time I go out to do some ‘miles. Sometime I like the basketball court near my place. I read a lot and draw. I always have a sketchbook with me on which to draw or write something, wherever I go.

What are the two most important things you have done to grow your business? 

Research and consistent effort.

What’s your secret weapon?

 I think the enthusiasm.

What’s the best tip you can give to a jewelery designer / photographer / artist / fashion designer / T-Shirt designer etc.? or, what three pieces of advice would you offer creative entrepreneurs starting out today? 

Believing in what you do, pay no attention to anyone or anything. Be straight on your way like a train. Sooner or later the results come in some way. And if not, well, patience. If you really believe in what you do, you don’t have any regrets. Better to try and fail, than the other way.

Learn more about: Rocco Malatesta

Remarkably Made Monday Indoor by Elisa Cavani is a street door,...

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 19:59:30 +0000

Remarkably Made Monday

Indoor by Elisa Cavani is a street door, a table, and a studio desk. I love how Elisa merges old and abandoned things together with recycled materials to create and reinvent beautiful objects.

[ I really like the idea that in every object is held somebody’s life.

All her pieces are totally unique and one-offs. Check her Il Fausto Tricycle Lamp as well, genius!

Remarkably Made Monday: T&F Slack Made to Measure Shoemakers

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 17:09:04 +0000

The creative genius of husband-and-wife team Tim and Fiona Slack based in Notting Hill, London, just around the corner from us, T&F Slack Shoemakers is a force dedicated to making made to measure modern classics.

T&F Slack create some of the most beautifully crafted footwear.

I love their coloured soles collections plus the fact that all their shoes are made here in their UK factory.